


Paradise Bound

by MyArmadaIsGrowing



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: And written for Silks! I hope you like it!, Domesticity, For the Gramander Secret Santa organised by Miss LV on Tumblr, Light Swearing, M/M, Pining, Relationship of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyArmadaIsGrowing/pseuds/MyArmadaIsGrowing
Summary: Of fucking course this happened. Percival shouldn’t be surprised. His first day back at work after being tortured by Grindelwald for half a year and recovering for 4 months, and he’s cornered by President Piquery and the rest of the Board of Directors. And what the hell did they want? Well... Let’s just say that Percival wasn’t happy with it. At all.“You want to marry me off to some rich fucking heiress?!”Yeah, to say Percival wasn’t happy was an understatement.
Relationships: Original Percival Graves & Theseus Scamander, Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander
Comments: 5
Kudos: 276





	Paradise Bound

Of fucking course this happened. Percival shouldn’t be surprised. His first day back at work after being tortured by Grindelwald for half a year and recovering for 4 months, and he’s cornered by President Piquery and the rest of the Board of Directors. And what the hell did they want? Well... Let’s just say that Percival wasn’t happy with it. At all.

“You want to marry me off to some rich fucking heiress?!”

Yeah, to say Percival wasn’t happy was an understatement.

“Director Graves, you are in no place to argue after the financial strain your mess-up put on our government.” Piquery snapped. “It’s your responsibility to fix this, and the only way you can do that is by complying to your government’s demands.”

“You can’t marry me off without my consent!” Percival protested furiously.

“We can and we will, Graves. Unless you have a legitimate reason t–“ One of the Directors sneered hatefully at him, until Percival cut him off.

“I’m already engaged, I refuse to marry someone else you assholes picked out for me!”

As soon as he said the words, he felt a wave of icy-cold wash over him. Shit. Once they found out he was lying, he’d be in even more trouble.

“Really? You’re already engaged?” Piquery rose a condescending eyebrow. “If you’re engaged, do you want to tell us who you’re engaged to?”

“Newt?” Percival’s attention was stolen by a very familiar figure entering the Auror department, and he momentarily forgot about the panic flooding his bloodstream. As everyone looked around at Newt, Newt spotted him and hurried over.

“Percy, there you are!”

“What are you doing here?” Percival asked in confusion as everyone’s jaws dropped at hearing someone casually call Director Graves ‘Percy’. “I thought you were still in London? And how many times have I told you not to call me Percy? I’m not an enchanted green tank engine!”*

“I came over for book-related matters, but mostly to check on you.” Newt answered as he frowned and cupped Percival’s face in his hands. “How are you? Theseus is worried sick about you you know, he sends his apologies for not being allowed to get away from work to come and visit. You look dreadfully dehydrated, you really shouldn’t have started work again yet, if you don’t prove to me you’re up for it I’ll put you to bed myself and tie you down until you get a good night’s sleep-“

“You’re engaged to Scamander?!” Someone demanded in disbelief. Percival was abruptly reminded of the reason he was surrounded by everyone else, and before he could say anything else, Newt spoke, frowning as he saw the panic in Percival’s eyes.

“Percy, what’s going on?”

“So you’re not engaged!” Piquery pounced on it like a bloodthirsty predator, but before she could say anything else, Newt replied, staring at her like she was mad.

“Of course Percy and I are engaged, I just didn’t know we were going public in America yet.”  
Percival could have cried in relief. Thank all the gods and goddesses, Newt was a miracle. He’d owe Newt a million favours for this.

“They’re trying to marry me off to some rich heiress.” Percival explained to Newt miserably.

“I think the fuck not.” Newt exclaimed, the expression on Percival’s face lighting his little-seen ‘protective mama bear’ side as he glared down the Board and Piquery. His glare was surprisingly terrifying, possibly because no-one expected Newt to be able to glare at all. “Percival isn’t going to be marrying anyone except me, and if any of you think any differently, my cousin is the King of England and I’m not above getting his help.” He threatened.

“You’re related to the King of England?” Lopez asked in disbelief. All the Aurors were listening in without even trying to be subtle.

“Yes, my late mother was his mother’s twin sister.” Newt replied, not letting his petrifying scowl leave Piquery’s face.

“Now I’ve proven I have a legitimate reason to not marry this heiress, I’m going to leave.” Percival stated, pulling Newt into his office and slamming the door.

Once they were alone, Percival slid to the floor, tears welling in his eyes, and buried his face in his hands. He felt a warm body sit down beside him and pull him closer, and Percival dissolved into tears against Newt’s shoulder. He didn’t realise he was hyperventilating until Newt held his hands against his chest over his blue coat, and took deep, slow breaths that Percival could feel.

“Breathe with me, Percy.” He said reassuringly, and Percival did his best to keep his breaths slow and calm like Newt’s. “Now, would you like me to tell you gross facts about dragons or about hippogriffs?”

“D-Dragons, please.” Percival managed to say, slowly realising that he was having a panic attack.

For the next half hour, Newt distracted him with so many disgusting facts about dragons that Percival couldn’t quite believe it, and Newt even managed to get him to laugh a few times. Once Newt could tell that the main panic attack had ended, he pulled Percival to his feet and sat down with him on the couch in his office, holding his hand since he knew Percival was very tactile. Skin contact made Percival calm down no matter what situation he was in.

“Do you feel comfortable telling me what was happening out there, Percy?” He asked softly. “I’m right here, I’m not going to react badly to anything you tell me.”

Percival gradually managed to tell Newt the whole story, and when he got to the end, he couldn’t hold back his tears of guilt as he apologised to Newt over and over again for dragging him into this mess.

“Hey, Percy, it’s ok.” Newt calmed him down again with a warm smile. “I’m not upset at all. If telling everyone we’re engaged will mean you don’t need to go through with whatever the President tries to make you do, I’m very happy to do it. It would be nice to have someone apart from Theseus who I can spend time with.” He admitted shyly.

“You’d really do this for me?” Percival asked in timid hopefulness.

“Of course.” Newt smiled, squeezing his hand.

“Thank you.” Percival whispered into Newt’s chest as he leaned closer to hug him. As Newt held him close with surprisingly strong arms and Percival smelled the warm scent of animal food and grass that was entwined in Newt’s clothes, he felt like everything would be alright. He’d never understood what people meant when they said someone’s hug made them feel safe and protected, but now he understood completely as he pressed closer to Newt and relished in the feeling.  
———————————————————————–  
When they went back to Percival’s house that evening, Newt’s rough hand around Percival’s the entire walk through MACUSA, Newt somehow managed to scrape up a surprisingly tasty meal from the odd bits and bobs in Percival’s cupboards. Percival’s Italian, food-loving side he’d gotten from his mother relaxed with a great, content sigh when he took his first flavourful mouthful, and as Newt went pink from Percival’s praise and met his eyes with a sweet, modest grin, Percival’s heart leapt. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.  
———————————————————————–  
“Graves, if you want to get out of this arrangement, you need to be legally married before the summer solstice.” Piquery dropped a huge bombshell on Percival the second he walked into MACUSA the next morning.

“That’s not ideal, but we can move the wedding forward I suppose.” Newt appeared behind Percival and rested a hand on the small of Percival’s back reassuringly. Newt was a treasure and an angel and Percival had never been so thankful for someone’s existence. “I’m sorry, Percy, I know you wanted an autumn wedding.” Newt looked down at him sympathetically. “We could always sign the papers and make it official, and have the ceremony and the reception in autumn.”

“We can discuss it.” Percival agreed, sighing. He didn’t know how the hell Newt knew he’d always dreamed of a wedding outside as autumn leaves fell down around him and his spouse, but he wasn’t going to question it when Newt was saving his life. ———————————————————————–  
He and Newt had been ‘engaged’ for an entire week before someone realised that neither of them had rings.

“Hey, sir, why don’t you have an engagement ring?” Lopez asked, staring at Percival’s hands as he made a mug of coffee.

“Newt and I aren’t big on jewellery.” Percival answered easily. This, at least, was something he knew for sure. “Rings would get in the way of both our jobs. We’re still not sure what we’re going to do about wedding rings, but we’ll have to figure it out at some point.” He sighed, his headache deepening. Everything required so much thought now, Percival wouldn’t be able to handle it without Newt. ———————————————————————–  
Over the next few weeks, as he and Newt slowly settled into the sudden co-dependancy they’d been thrown into, they got into a routine. Percival would make them both breakfast every morning as Newt fed the creatures, Newt made him pack a nutritious lunch of the previous night’s leftovers, Newt would come and eat lunch with him at work if he could, and when Percival got home at 5:30 on the dot, Newt would be waiting with a piping hot dinner from one of the many cuisines he’d eaten from over the years. They’d take their dinner into the case and eat together in Frank’s empty enclosure that Newt hadn’t had the heart to change after he let Frank go, and then Percival would help with the evening feed schedule. They’d get ready for bed together after a peaceful evening spent in the living room as they each worked on their workloads, then they’d fall asleep in each other’s arms and wake up tangled together the next morning. If was blissful.

The whole ‘sleeping in the same bed’ thing had been a fairly recent development, after Percival had had one too many screaming nightmares and they’d discovered the nightmares were almost non-existent if Percival was in someone’s arms. Newt had been surprisingly willing to share a bed, he’d been the first one to suggest it.

If Percival hadn’t seen how Newt still jumpily avoided anyone else’s touch, he’d have suspected that Newt had been sneakily replaced by Theseus, who was the most touchy-feely, aggressively social guy Percival had ever met. Newt never seemed to be bothered by Percival’s touch, though, and even actively encouraged it, often taking every tiny chance to touch him in any tiny way he could, even if it was just a hand on Percival’s back for a brief moment or brushing their hands together as they walked past each other. Once Percival got used to it, he took an inordinate amount of joy from every moment of skin contact. It was almost like his battery was recharged every time Newt touched him, and Percival started craving Newt’s touch hard. He also started taking every chance he had to touch Newt, and it was only made better if Newt smiled or he made Newt laugh. How hadn’t he noticed Newt’s laugh before? It was the most beautiful sound in the world to Percival. ———————————————————————–  
As they got closer and got to know each other even better, their wedding was quickly approaching. They’d signed the papers a month before the summer solstice, with a furious Piquery and a joyful Queenie Goldstein as witnesses, and they’d planned to have a proper wedding in late September.

(“Why the hell not?” Newt had asked cheerfully when Percival had asked why he wanted a ceremony or reception at all for a relationship based purely on convenience for both parties. Percival hadn’t been able to think of an argument, so ahead the wedding planning went.)  
———————————————————————–  
When they’d finalised the date of their wedding, Percival went into work with a fat form and trembling hands. Before he went to his office, he visited the President.

“Graves.” Piquery sneered as he entered her office and sat down without invitation.

“I’m quitting.” Percival stated flatly without hesitation, placing the form on Piquery’s desk. Before Piquery could voice the unparalleled fury sparking in her eyes, Percival continued, somehow managing to keep his voice steady and hide his shaking hands. “My husband would like me to remind you that his cousin is King George VI.”

Piquery was clever enough to know she had no way of stopping Percival from quitting without it negatively impacting her reputation. If the King of England got involved in protesting against something she’d done, it wouldn’t be good for her on any front. She was forced to agree through gritted teeth, simmering in anger as Percival left her office and went to pack his stuff. He was so glad he didn’t need to turn in his resignation two weeks before he left like some jobs. That afternoon, he left for the last time with all his personal items shrunk in one pocket, and his colleagues never saw him in person again.  
———————————————————————–  
Percival gradually found himself being drawn more and more to Newt. When he caught himself staring at Newt’s lips over dinner one night, he had a full-on crisis. Newt was clearly worried about his sudden crisis, but reluctantly left him to it when Percival insisted he go about his evening routine without him.

After some stressed pacing, Percival couldn’t take it anymore and he just had to talk to someone about it. So he floo called the only person he could speak to: Theseus.

“I’m in love with Newt but he doesn’t love me back, he’s only married to me for a favour, what if he hates me when he finds out?!” He demanded to Theseus in agitation before Theseus could even get out a word.

“Hey, hey, Percy, calm down.” Theseus said in surprise.

A long chat left Percival with lots to think about. Theseus had reluctantly broken the brother’s oath between himself and Newt to tell him that Newt had been in love with him from the sidelines for years, since the end of the war. He just hadn’t said anything because Percival didn’t love him back and he’d known it. But now, Percival did love him back.

Percival spent three sleepless nights thinking about how he should broach the topic with Newt, but never got around to it before it was time for him and Newt to board the ship that would take them to England, towards their wedding and their futures together. As they lay in bed late one night, the moonlight lighting up their little cabin and Newt’s sleeping face, Percival whispered loud enough for Newt to hear him.

“Newt?”

Newt didn’t stir.

Percival wanted to make sure Newt really was asleep before he spoke what he wanted to say out loud, so he wracked his brains for a way to make sure he was fast asleep. In a flash, he remembered how the word ‘bubbles’ never failed to make Newt giggle hysterically for some reason, and whispered it to him.

“Bubbles!”

Newt didn’t even twitch. He had mentioned that being on a boat helped him sleep better than he’d ever slept in his life, but Percival hadn’t realised just how well he really did sleep.

“I love you.” Percival murmured, grabbing the chance with both hands. It gave him a strange thrill to say those words out loud to the man he loved. “I’ve been worrying about how to tell you, because I don’t want you to think I somehow set up this entire situation to force you into marrying me, but I really do love you. I’ve decided to find some courage and tell you when you’re awake to hear me, no matter how you might react, because the possibility of you loving me back and accepting me is far too appealing for me to hide away from it. I love you with all my heart and soul.”

With that off his chest, Percival felt an odd but pleasant sensation of being as light as air, as if the weights that had been pulling him down to the ground had suddenly disappeared. He shuffled closer to Newt’s warm chest and fell asleep to the gentle rock of the boat with a smile on his face.

The next morning, after Percival had spent half an hour trying to wake Newt up and eventually beat him with pillows, which ended in a giggly pillow fight, Newt hugged him close and rubbed his back affectionately.

“Have you sorted out what’s been troubling you?” He asked softly. “You seem happier.”

“It’s all sorted out now.” Percival confirmed, beaming.  
———————————————————————–  
A fortnight later, Percival was standing at the top of the aisle in the grounds of Scamander Manor. They were surrounded by red and orange trees and a strong warming charm to keep everyone comfortable.

As Newt walked up towards him with Theseus, Percival’s heart went crazy in his chest. When Newt reached him and took his hand, Percival murmured the three words that he’d been so worried about saying, and Newt’s smile grew to blinding properties.

“I love you too, darling.” He whispered back.

**Author's Note:**

> * The ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ books came out in 1945, but they were first published in the wizarding world in 1923 and became an immediate hit with wizarding children. The author edited them all to make them suitable for muggles, which is why it took so long for them to be published in the muggle world too. Percival is referring to one of the side characters, a small green tank engine called Percy.


End file.
